Trump administration supports one-year extension of AGOA trade programme

The Trump administration has expressed support for a one-year extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the trade programme providing sub-Saharan African countries with duty-free access to the United States market.

A White House official confirmed the position as the current law approaches its expiration on Tuesday.

Since taking office in January, the administration has not publicly clarified its stance on AGOA, which was first passed in 2000 to allow thousands of African products entry into the US without tariffs.

The programme has been credited with creating and sustaining hundreds of thousands of jobs across more than 30 eligible African countries.

Despite broad bipartisan backing for AGOA’s renewal, its continuation faces uncertainty.

MPs are considering attaching the one-year extension to a temporary government funding bill, which Republicans are pushing to keep federal operations running beyond Tuesday.

African governments and investors have recently lobbied for either a one- or two-year extension after efforts to secure a longer-term renewal stalled in Congress.

While the AGOA has historically strengthened trade ties, its benefits have been partially reduced by tariffs introduced by the Trump administration in August.

These tariffs imposed taxes of 10 to 30 per cent on products that previously entered the US market duty-free, limiting the law’s original advantage.

Supporters argue that renewing AGOA would not only protect jobs but also help diversify US supply chains and reduce Chinese influence in Africa.

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